Mother of suspected Dimona suicide bomber: 'I still expect him back'

[bemildred]

---

The Harbawi family lives in a standard building, in central Hebron's Hares neighborhood. The family is neither rich or poor. Muhammad's room resembles that of an average Palestinian unmarried man: A single bed, with another one on the other side of the room where his brother sleeps; a clothes closet. Someone had made sure to remove all the photographs from the wall.

The family appeared embarrassed by the press interest in them. "They told us nothing," Basma said. "No one has called to let us know that he carried out this operation. In the days before the action in Dimona, he behaved normally, went to prayers at the mosque near the house, and did a lot of sports. He and his friends used to jog in the streets of the city and twice a week he trained in karate. When he left on Monday, I was sleeping, and he did not say goodbye," she said.

Ahmed al-Harbawi said that his brother was quiet and calm, but that he had been arrested at 15 for throwing stones. "In prison he joined Hamas, became more religious and was released two years later. Since then he was a member of the organization and worked from morning to night."

In his free time he played soccer with the team of the mosque, and his cousin, Taysir, insisted that he never heard Muhammad speak about hatred of Jews or Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/951518.html

[Tom Joad]

1. when a nation kidnaps young people and holds them in prison,

it cannot expect to be loved in return.

[Vegasaurus]

4. So, you think violence or murder as the result of a jail term

is a fine practice?

[subsuelo]

5. That is a rather shallow view don't you think? n/t

[Vegasaurus]

6. Of course

but it fits perfectly with the shallow view presented in the prior post.

[subsuelo]

7. My take

The initial post considers the ramifications of imprisoning young people for throwing stones. If this kid had less exposure to Hamas and other militant groups, perhaps the woman's life would have been saved. Going on the assumption that saving lives is a goal for all of us, then it is not a shallow view taken in the first post.

[bemildred]

8. Sort of.

Prisons have always been schools for criminals. They have also always been schools for political resistance. Sometimes the difference between the two is moot. So wise dictators minimize the use of prisons as a "solution" to social unrest. It is notable, and inauspicious, that the USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Spend a few of your teenage years in jail and see how obedient it makes you feel, is what I would say.

[Vegasaurus]

9. There is a culture of disobedience

that far precedes jail time, for Americans incarcerated.

However, I totally agree about the high jail rate. The rate of recidivism should also indicate the problem with jails, but the fact remains that there are a lot of law breakers all over the world, and anarchy is not a better solution (having no repercussions for breaking the law).

[bemildred]

10. LOL. A "culture of disobedience"? Is there also a "culture of authority"?

A "culture of ordering people around?" I thought that rulers ought to rule by the "just consent of the governed". When the governed no longer choose to obey, they withold their consent, and the rulers are no longer legitimate. So as I see it, when there is a "culture of disobedience", it indicates illegitimate government, not some illegitimacy in the sovereign people. The people can do no wrong. The alternative is not "chaos", but to follow the dictates of democracy and liberty.

[Vegasaurus]

11. Except that people rarely do

follow those dictates. or at least a subsection of people don't, in any society.

Whether or not people think there should be laws or government, the fact is that without them, people absolutely do turn chaotic.

There are very few instances, if any, of a truly peaceable society, and these still have some edicts, rules, or laws.

Human nature demands it.

[bemildred]

13. Who said anything about no laws or government?

That came out of your head, not mine. Your argument seems to be that people are inherently evil, so we need to put the worst of them in charge. You also seem to feel that people are incapable or running their own affairs or cooperating without someone with a whip standing over them. This is contrary to simple observation. It is true that there is plenty of evil in the world, but governments are responsible for the most and the worst of it, and always have been. The question is who is government to serve, and how is it to be held accountable for its actions? Without sound answers to those questions, you just have another tyranny.

[subsuelo]

12. obedience school flunkies abound. apparently

A fundamental goal of anarchy is in challenging the legitimacy of all forms of power and authority. Hard to argue the point, honestly.

[Tom Joad]

15. I support the culture of disobedience! It is not right to consent to

those that oppress you.

[Tom Joad]

14. The culture of disobedience should be located in the Israeli regime

that violates international law after law in its insistence to keep the territories it captured in the 1967 aggression. It's use of torture against Palestinian prisoners (including children), its continued dispossession of Palestinian land.

There should be repercussions for breaking the law. That is what the movement for sanctions, boycott and divestment is all about.

[azurnoir]

2. thank you for posting this n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. This is so tragic

Fanaticism destroyed him, along with his victims.

His poor mother - she will probably never really come to terms with what happened. Neither will the relatives of the victims.